Originally, I had intended to write this column in the offseason because it’s more of a musing than an advice column, but since I think that I’m much better at waxing philosophic than offering advice anyway, maybe my silence on the latter is the best I can give and a blessing in disguise.

I have something of an internal inconsistency, a philosophical chasm in the way I view fantasy baseball’s market and financial markets as they apply to my conception of the rest of the word and my overarching economic beliefs. This gulf prompts me to ask a question, the answer to which has the potential to be profoundly troubling to my view of self.

I have no intention of turning this post into a debate of political or economic philosophies, but this conundrum does rest a bit on my views, so let me just get through this very briefly— one sentence even. In economic matters, especially those that deal with the types of complex financial instruments that have such a potentially profound impact on the world’s economy, I’m extremely pro-regulation and unconflicted about my willingness to step on a corporation’s alleged right to make money to protect the masses from potential disaster. While you may be tempted to debate the merits of that philosophy, that is not the point of this post, so let’s not focus on that aspect of this post.

The point of this piece is that my feelings about fantasy baseball are 180 degrees opposite my macroeconomic leanings. In the fantasy baseball marketplace, I almost always prefer the deregulation. I don’t mind if there is no veto structure at all in a league, as long as participants are vetted to some very minor degree. I’m a proponent of the creation of more, and increasingly complex instruments to expand on the possible market transactions in the fantasy baseball universe. Seriously, has nobody at Yahoo proposed the idea of making it possible to propose three-team trades?

If we put aside the obvious differences between Mike Stanton hype and a housing bubble, such as the fact that there are no meaningfully harmful consequences that can result from the collapse of a fantasy baseball league, there’s one key difference that between the two that I’d like to discuss, as I don’t think most fantasy players think enough about it when evaluating the market transactions of others. Let’s begin with an anecdote.

About two weeks ago, in a 12-team mixed league in which I’m a co-owner, a trade ran across the board that sparked the ire of many a team. The trade was Dustin Pedroia for Leo Nunez and Brandon League. Obviously, this was before the news that David Aardsma may have Tommy John surgery in his future, though in the League-acquiring owner’s defense of the move, to his credit, he did speculate that he doubted Aardsma would be back and healthy, and presumed that given League’s performance, the job would actually be his all year.

The message board raged. The league called for a discussion regarding the possibility of instituting a veto system for trades— in its eighth year, there is none, except in a case in which one owner has what he feels to be evidence of collusion. At first look, I grumbled at the trade too, but upon giving it a little thought, I was fine with it, and not just on the philosophic grounds that an owner should be allowed free rein to act in any manner as long as he legitimately thinks such actions are toward the benefit of his team. No, there’s another dynamic at work here: the imperfect and inefficient trade market in fantasy baseball.

This owner needed saves. He was languishing in last place in the category. He had no closers at all, and therefore needed to acquire at least two to hope to be competitive in the category; adding one would have been of little to no value in terms of actual points to be accrued. Right there, the likelihood that he’s going to get near “equal value” for Pedroia is essentially low, if he wants to fill his needs swiftly and in one transaction. Think about how imperfect the market is for what he seeks – he needs to find a single owner who wants a middle infield stud (who is off to a slow start), and who is willing to part with two closers. Who has two closers to trade at once (and this league loves closers too, let me tell ya)? Basically, this owner is forced to take any option on the table that gives him the kinds of pieces he wants; there aren’t going to be many offers from which to choose.

So, he looked at his team, decided which players he owned had enough value to command multiple closers, picked the one for whom he had the best contingency plan according to his estimation and announced, “it’s closing time, ladies, and I’m willing to go home with any two of you, sight unseen, but it has to be a ménage de trois!” What other option did he have?

The idea that this owner could have gotten “fair value” for Pedroia exists only in a vacuum; that is, it exists only if you presume that the form in which the return value comes does not matter to him. Given his situation, clearly it did. One could argue that he should have made these moves step-wise, get one closer and another more valuable asset, then acquire closer No. 2 in a subsequent deal. However, trades aren’t so easy to make, and doing so would take time and effort, which are resources in their own right. He wanted to fill his need quickly and was willing to take a bit of a discount to do so—an entirely rational perspective. He’s further vindicated in that the League half of the equation looks like it will play out in accordance with his prediction, which was ridiculed by many I might add.

So, getting back to the philosophical debate, the point is that if the league were to regulate his actions ex post facto, he would have essentially been handcuffed. It’s reasonable to suggest that no similarly structured offers were on the table, so precluding his ability to make the move he did make would have been tantamount to preclude his right to make any similar move; a clear overreach. For the record, in this situation the commissioner rightly stepped in and announced that this trade would not be vetoed and that the (no-) veto policy was not up for review. Strong, decisive, and in my opinion, correct behavior. Props to you, sir.

The imperfections and inefficiencies of the market (it’s also really a pain to compare offers to make sure you get the best trade, etc.; it’s not like there’s open bidding) regulate the market substantially in the first place, effectively speaking. To then regulate the market after transactions have taken place, and effort had been made to traverse said market inefficiencies, seems excessive—again, provided everybody in the league can be trusted to play without training wheels.

Further, the introduction of a somewhat complex instrument to expand the transaction potential of the market, such as a three-way trade feature, would have increased the efficiency of this transaction and opened new options to the Pedroia dealer that didn’t previously exist. It’s my opinion that for him to have been able to markedly better in this (type of) deal, he would have had to get a third team involved. In fact, if he had been able to do that, I think he probably could have gotten a very nice deal done.

In the Wall Street market, where people and machines trade commodities, futures, and derivatives, the market is theoretically nearly perfect (wait, don’t go to the comment section to disagree yet, I’ll get to what I mean by that). Complex computer systems exist to shave pennies off of prices. So much attention is paid to detail that when the value of something shifts by a penny, warehouses of computers enact prop trades en masse to capitalize on the efficiency, and for those who run these outfits, the pursuit of faster internet connections to get to the “front of the line” when executing these trades is a virtual (no pun intended) arms race.

When I say the markets are perfect, I mean that anything you can possibly want, you can get. There’s a well-established market for it, and the price you pay for something is precise, even if not always commensurate with its true value.

Now, when we talk of complex financial instruments, it is my belief that, contrary to the proposition of their existence in fantasy baseball, many of them exist primarily to deceive and obfuscate the essential currency of the marketplace, value, risk, etc. Again, this is just my interpretation.

All of this is to say that in the real world, not only are the consequences of failure ever more dire, the need to expand the latitude of what market actors can do is non-existent. The character of these new expansions seems disproportionately skewed toward those who turn the market from a way to more efficiently distribute capital to promote widespread economic growth to a big casino with lots of new games with rules that the pit bosses (and gaming commission) don’t even understand.

Another item worth noting here is that the form of currency is quite precise in a real market, but much less so in terms of fantasy baseball. This is an imperfection, though an inescapable reality, that makes the trade market difficult. If we have a potential trade, and I’m off on my side by 8 percent, unless I have a player who is exactly 8 percent more valuable than the guy I’m slated to include, it is very difficult to reconcile this difference. “You don’t have change for a Jimmy Rollins?” “No, sorry, all I have is this Ryan Braun and I don’t want to break it.”

The way I reconcile my differing opinions hinges on the relative market imperfections and inefficiencies of the fantasy baseball aftermarket. I believe the de facto regulation imposed by that dynamic is substantial enough that additional regulation is not needed. What is needed, however—in both systems—are firm and well thought out parameters regarding the types of behavior that are and are not permissible.

But, there is another possibility here, the one that forces me question myself. I make no bones about my socialist-leaning political tendencies and because of them I don’t really participate in the investment market, even though I feel understand it better than the vast many who do. Perhaps my desire to regulate it is a much more selfish decision… I do participate in fantasy baseball, and I’m pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

Could it be that I am really no different than the hot-shot trader who doesn’t want regulation because it will hamper his ability to personally thrive, even though such regulation may offer greater protection to the mass? The typical argument against regulation in financial markets is usually that those involved are smart and sophisticated and that we shouldn’t infringe on their ability to exercise those smarts in creative ways. Well, when thinking about how I’d like to be treated in the context of my fantasy leagues and my latitude to make moves and implement unconventional and perhaps excessively risky strategies, I’d say that sentiment applies.

I like to think my conviction is real, and the proof is that despite having an active interest in understanding how the economy works and even how people make fortunes off ruining the economic futures of others, I’ve never been tempted exploit any of that knowledge for my own financial gain. I’ve deemed that game something I’m not interested in playing. So, maybe actions speak louder than words and ultimately, I’m voting via my participation, because when it comes to fantasy baseball, I emphatically say, “Play Ball!”

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KY

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I think this misses a significant difference in the markets. A league has 12 or so people. If someone makes a bad trade this effects the other 10 in a significant way. If you sell all your 1981 Apple stock for $1 a share it doesn’t really hurt anyone except you. Which illustrates that it may be a matter of league aesthetics. Does your league want to reward people for selecting good players or for making good trades or for both equally? If you want people to have to pick good players to win and not be able to rip… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Dub Boys

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In my mind, this trade is not even close to being veto worthy? Would I make the trade if I am giving up Pedroia, probably not. But it is still early enough in the year that getting a couple guys might give you some points down the road. On the flip side, why should the guy getting Pedroia be penalized for pulling off, on the surface, a fantastic trade? It was obviously void of collusion, so I say have at it. Vetoes are an awful way to run a league. In my mind a trade should only be overturned if… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Braves Fan

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Sometimes desperate owners make bad decisions. In addition to examining a trade for collusion, a trade must also be viewed based on how it will affect the competitiveness of the league as a whole, both short-term and long-term. I think this is what KY was hinting at. If we assume that the team getting the worse end of the deal is already the worse of the two teams in the trade, then it’s not beyond imagination that this team will probably be even worse after the trade. This might eventually result in the owner of the bad team to go… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Paul Singman

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Even though it’s not the conventional fantasy article, I do really enjoy these “waxing philosophic pieces, Derek. Don’t think there’s anyone writing right now whose better at discussing the theoretical aspects of fb in a clear yet interesting way. One simple reason to open up the trading market is that the “complex trading mechanisms” you propose aren’t that complex. I think everyone can understand the workings of a three-way trade. If, however, things evolved to where people could trade options on players or whatever other crazy stuff people could think of, then I believe regulation would have to start to… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Derek Ambrosino

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Thanks guys. KY – League is roto, BTW. So, that should clear up the confusion for KY. (I guess you missed my hotbutton “H2H is just an inferior version of roto article ). http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/why-head-to-head/ Good point, Paul… about my article’s being fantastic. No, seriously, good point re: the complex tools are actually quite simple. If you were to get into trades that allow future draft picks, FAAB dollars at x% interested, deferred contract payments, and future rights to minor league players, it would be a lot easier to image somebody ripping off a caper that could really define the dynamic… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Dub Boys

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re: Paul. But who is to say what is definitely fair or not fair? Sure on the surface many trades look lopsided, but what if Pedroia doesn’t recover and has an off year and team 2 could have gotten 40 saves out of the two closers and gained 5 points in the standings? Let free market reign. We are no more “experts” than the next guy who makes a trade. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t….but to say you should be able to veto trades to keep it “fair” with the 10 other teams is one of the more… Read more »

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8 years ago

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KY

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Derek – I don’t see why the league format matters. Owners get onerous when a team ends up worse off then it was. If trading Pedroia for two closers was actually a good idea for the owner of Pedroia I don’t thin anyone would get upset. There is also the fact that there is a reason they get upset. Because they do not value trading as a skill and therefore a reason to win a league. They may simply be jealous of the owner who performed a good trade, but that would appear to call every person who dislikes this… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Derek Ambrosino

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KY, First, I’ll let you tackle Phil’s point, that seems to be a good start. As to why league type matters, I’d say it’s a minor caveat (in the Pedroia-trader’s favor in this case) because in roto you can’t just punt saves and spread that extra value over your other categories as a strategic play. Theoretically, you might be able to argue that in a league with certain characteristics, having an elite 2B is clearly more valuable than two C+ closers who may not help your rate stats. I think you’ve hit on something about people not valuing trading as… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Derek Ambrosino

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Dubboys, I think you make a good point in referring to moves in the way they impact the standings. Many people get too hung up on evaluating trades in the vacuum of objective value, when what really matters is the context of the team and league. You can lose the value of production side of a trade and win the points in the standings side – I think that’s what this owner did. …The thing is, if you do that too often, you create a ceiling for yourself. It’s quite possible to make a series of moves like this that… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Dave

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To address your broader point, while no one likes to told they can’t do something and all things being equal the preference should be for more personal freedom, the impact of bad trades on fantasy doesn’t compare to the impact of bad behavior on financial markets. IMO financial markets need regulation, in particular “innovative” financial instruments. The events of the past two-three years (and throughout history to be hones) have highlight how “smart” people were not so smart. Financial markets are not ideal and never will be. Accurate information will never always be freely available and neither will insider trading… Read more »

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8 years ago

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Derek Ambrosino

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Dave,

To fulfill my quota of pseudo-philosophical cliched musings, let me state that the map is not the territory. While you may object to the inclusion of saves as a category (and for plenty good reason), avoiding their inclusion would not have necessarily prevented such a trade. Fundamental misunderstandings of the market are not cured by swapping commodities. The same owner could have just as easily made a shortsighted move to chase FIP at the expense of wOBA.

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8 years ago

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Phil

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What you refer to as “complex” financial instruments, rarely are. In America, if someone loses money, they have to find someone to blame. Hiding behind the instrument being deceptive or too complex is akin to trading for a pitcher with a 3.00 era but a 5.00 fip, then accusing your trade partner with having been dishonest when the pitcher turns into a 5.00 era pitcher.